Chapter 7 - The Woman Beside the Wolf
One year later, Luca hosted another gala.
Smaller this time.
No engagement announcement.
No society spectacle.
The evening raised money for rehabilitation programs serving families who couldn't afford long-term care after catastrophic accidents.
Micah attended using a cane.
When he walked into the ballroom, Elara covered her mouth.
“Don't cry,” he warned.
“I'm not crying.”
“You absolutely are.”
“Walk faster and I'll stop.”
“Cruel.”
Someone approached behind them.
Luca.
Micah looked at him.
“So you're the famous Luca.”
Luca glanced at Elara.
“Famous?”
“She complains about you constantly.”
“Micah.”
“What? You do.”
Luca smiled.
“I've heard considerably worse reviews.”
Micah wandered toward the buffet.
Elara watched him go.
A year earlier, she had feared he might never walk normally again.
Now he was arguing with a waiter about how many miniature cheesecakes counted as socially acceptable.
“You did that,” she said quietly.
Luca stood beside her.
“No.”
“You paid for—”
“I paid bills.”
He nodded toward Micah.
“He did that.”
Elara looked at him.
Something between them had changed during the previous year.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Coffee after late meetings.
Arguments in Luca's office.
Sunday breakfasts.
Moments when he stopped being the Wolf of Chicago and became simply Luca.
A man who carried too many enemies and trusted too few people.
Luca reached into his jacket.
Elara immediately narrowed her eyes.
“No.”
He paused.
“I haven't done anything.”
“If that's a ring, put it back.”
Across the room, Micah started laughing.
Luca looked offended.
“You ruined this entire moment.”
“You were going to propose during a charity gala?”
“I rented an orchestra.”
“That's worse.”
“Elara.”
She smiled.
“Ask me without the audience.”
Luca stared at her.
Then he took her hand and led her through the conservatory doors.
Outside, Chicago glittered beyond the gardens.
No crowd.
No photographers.
No champagne.
Just them.
Luca took out the ring.
This time Elara didn't interrupt.
“You walked into my house because you needed money,” he said.
“Romantic start.”
“Please don't ruin this again.”
She pressed her lips together.
He continued.
“You spent a year trying to become invisible.”
“I was good at it.”
“You were terrible at it.”
She laughed softly.
Luca took her hand.
“Everyone around me spent years telling me what they thought I wanted to hear. You were the first person who looked me in the eye and told me when I was wrong.”
“Frequently.”
“Constantly.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
“I don't need someone who fears my name, Elara.”
His thumb moved gently across her hand.
“I need the woman who saw danger in a crowded room when everyone else was looking at diamonds.”
Elara looked down at the ring.
Then back at him.
“You forgot to ask the question.”
Luca sighed.
“Will you marry me?”
She let him wait three seconds.
Mostly because she enjoyed watching the most feared man in Chicago become nervous.
Then she smiled.
“Yes.”
Behind the glass doors, Micah threw both arms into the air.
Apparently they had an audience after all.
Elara laughed.
Luca shook his head.
And inside the same conservatory where a shattered glass had once exposed a conspiracy, the music began again.
Only this time, nobody was trying to kill anyone.
May you like
For the Valenti family—
that practically counted as a miracle.
